


enchanted love

by Umbry2000



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Impromptu Pondside Moments, More flowers because I can't escape them, Noishe is scheming and pranking, Yes I get my titles from the weirdest of places, falling asleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29425689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umbry2000/pseuds/Umbry2000
Summary: Lloyd and Colette, with the assistance of Noishe, come across a serene little pond tucked away in the forest. With the unbearable hot weather, it makes for the perfect spot to rest and cool down.But Noishe considers it the perfect spot for a prank...
Relationships: Colette Brunel/Lloyd Irving
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	enchanted love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Darkhymns](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkhymns/gifts).



> This idea popped into my head when I was playing the newest World Extend song in Arcaea! [enchanted love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE6mruRB1PA) by [linear ring](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnP6IctQxPECwSL5bt-4TFg) is a chill track whose incredibly cute BGA features frogs and ponds :) and it made for a short fic! Thanks to Darkhymn's for writing out my prompt so here's a cute little moment in return!
> 
> Do check out Darkhymn's collection of fics from completed prompts [here](https://archiveofourown.org/series/2153589) :)
> 
> Ignore the logistics about the shallowness of ponds, would you? Or where they actually are because I don't know.

"Lloyd! Over here! Noishe found something amazing!" Colette called out, head peeking out from behind the trunk of the tree that Noishe had just disappeared behind. Noishe, much to Lloyd's bewilderment, had spent the last few minutes with his nose to the ground, emitting the occasional forlorn bark. Colette had suggested that maybe Noishe had caught the scent of something, but what? There was nothing around here but miles and miles of boring trees and shrubbery. They _were_ in the middle of a forest, after all. What else did he expect? 

Lloyd certainly hadn't expected Noishe to suddenly take off, tongue lolling out of his mouth and barking like mad, as he had just seconds ago. Colette had gone after him, leading to the current situation - Lloyd panting as he ran over to join her.

"He better have," Lloyd grumbled, shielding his eyes from the single piercing ray of sunshine that had gotten through the thick overgrowth. According to Lloyd's best estimate, it was noon, and even if he couldn't see the sun through the dense leaves and branches above him, the humid air weighing against his skin and the thick layer of sweat was enough to let him know that it was, well, hot. Lloyd could even see the individual beads of sweat starting to gather on Colette's forehead, causing strands of hair to start sticking to the sides of her face. Even pulling her hair up into a makeshift ponytail had done little against the oppressive heat.

If Noishe had made him run all this way for nothing, he was going to strangle the damn dog.

On second thought, maybe he wouldn't. That sounded like more energy than he could expend right now. Lying on the dirt seemed far more appealing.

"Look!" Colette grabbed his hand, tugging him along to see what she and Noishe had found. Pushing through a few annoying ferns, Lloyd emerged into a clearing - and gasped at the sight before him. It was a pond, about the size of a small house, fed by a happily bubbling brook. The water reflected the colour of the leaves above and had a mosaic of light dancing across it, courtesy of the sunlight filtering through said leaves. Lily pads, accompanied by white flowers, floated on the water, next to tiny rocks that had moss growing on them and a variety of other floating plants. And next to the pond, irises bloomed, pale blue in colour. After the constant greens and browns of the forest, it was a breathtaking sight. Who knew such a place existed, tucked away behind the opposingly tall trees and the prickly ferns? It was like a place untouched by time, serene and unbothered.

"It's perfect for cooling down! See, Noishe is already having such a fun time!" Colette proclaimed, pointing at Noishe, who was ecstatically wading through the deeper parts of the pond with only his head visible. Faced with the heavenly prospect of cool water after the sweltering heat, Colette could no longer wait and ran down to the pool's edge, kicking off her shoes and rolling her leggings up before sinking her lower legs into the pond. "Come on, Lloyd!" 

Lloyd, eager to join in, did the same, sighing in bliss as the water provided a reprieve. Mirroring Colette, he dipped his hands in the pond and gathered up some water to wash his face, getting rid of the icky sweat clinging to his skin.

The pair lapsed into a comfortable silence, content to kick their legs around in the water and watch the tadpoles swim around them. Such a peaceful time was hard to come across in the bustling villages and towns that they passed through, so it was nice to just take some time to relax and revel in the quiet, broken only by the occasional chirp of a bird or croak of a frog... And a break was much-needed after trekking for hours to reach the next town.

It would be nice to get in the water, but they didn't have a change of clothes on them at the moment. It seemed like that option was off the table...

Colette yawned, leaning against Lloyd's side. Lloyd laughed, wrapping one arm around her side. "Feeling sleepy, are we?"

"It's hot," Colette muttered, snuggling closer. "Can't help it..."

Well, it's not like Lloyd wasn't starting to feel the effects of the heat. That, the cool water against his skin, his existing exhaustion, and Colette's comforting presence were starting to make _his_ eyelids feel heavy...

_Splash!_

The sudden splattering of water droplets against his face caused Lloyd to splutter and glare at the source - Noishe, who had silently sneaked up on the two and brought one paw down on the pond surface with force, causing an explosion of water.

"What the _hell_ , Noishe?" Lloyd turned to look at Colette, who was now sitting up straight and rubbing her eyes. She certainly didn't seem sleepy anymore. "You disrupted Colette's rest!"

Noishe only grinned at the two of them, tongue lolling out of his mouth. Lloyd, ready to get back at his Protozoan buddy, gathered up a handful of water and threw it as hard as he could, hitting Noishe square on the face.

Colette, who was now fully awake and blinking water out of her eyes, watched in astonishment at the water-fight taking form before her eyes. Both Lloyd and Noishe were giving their all, splashing water everywhere, Lloyd laughing and Noishe barking in excitement. Though with Lloyd sitting on the shore and Noishe submerged in the pond, Noishe had the clear upper hand. He was using his full body weight to splash water _everywhere_ , including a few stray drops that continued to hit her.

As if realising this himself, Noishe leapt onto the shore and paused. Colette stared at him with wide eyes, the split second of stillness seeming to stretch on forever... Until Noishe promptly tackled Lloyd into the water with an enthusiastic bark.

Colette scrambled to her feet in concern, hoping to either pull Lloyd out or join in the fun, either seemed like fine options. But in her hurry, she tripped over a small, previously unseen pebble, lost her balance and, flailing her arms, fell straight onto Lloyd, who had just managed to surface, thus knocking him down for the second time in the span of a few minutes.

Gasping, they both surfaced from the pond, sleeves and hair dripping water. If before the sweat was causing some strands of hair to stick to their faces, then they truly resembled bedraggled rats now, hair wildly plastered to their clothes and skin and rivulets of water running down their faces. Throughout the chaos of their fall and subsequent rise to the surface, Lloyd's arm had remained securely wrapped around Colette's waist, like he was afraid that if he let go, she'd sink right back into the pond.

"You alright?" Lloyd enquired, bringing one warm hand up to her cheek as if feeling for any possible scratches left by her fall. Silly, Colette thought. There weren't any sharp branches or edges of rocks close enough to the shore to have gotten at her skin. Besides, Lloyd had caught her, in more ways than one. But Lloyd had always been the one to worry about her.

"Perfectly fine! There's not a single scratch on me!" Colette replied, hoping to allay his fears. "I'm sorry for falling on you..."

"That's not your fault! It's _Noishe's_." Lloyd turned and shot a glare at the aforementioned dog, who was making his hasty and sneaky retreat onto dry ground. He turned back, a small smile on his face. "And I'd catch you anytime." 

"Thank you. I know you would."

Colette finally noticed that Lloyd's hair, drenched, was falling straight into his eyes. With careful fingers, she brushed them away. But with the water weighing it down, his hair had no choice but to go straight back to its original position. With his hair like this, Lloyd almost looked like...

Lloyd watched in confusion as Colette burst into giggles, covering her hand with her mouth to stifle her laughter. "Colette...?"

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't be laughing, but - but with your hair like this, you almost look like a dog!" Colette managed to get out among the intermittent bouts of laughter, eyes sparkling with mirth.

"A dog...?" Lloyd tried and failed to move his hair out of his eyes, wondering if he should take that as a compliment. Colette loved dogs, so...

"A big, shaggy, loving dog! It's cute," Colette replied, cocking her head to the side and smiling sweetly, a faint blush on her cheeks. In the process, she also knocked all the air out of Lloyd's lungs, just as Noishe's paws shoving against his chest just moments before had. He hadn't quite realised how close they were until now. He could see each fine eyelash, the same golden colour as her hair, and the individual beads of water caught on them, precariously balancing and threatening to fall. The mosaic of light that shimmered on the water also cast squares of light onto her golden hair, making it seem incredibly bright in their dim surroundings.

Lloyd could never forget her beauty, but there were moments where he was reminded, almost painfully, of how truly incredible she was. Sometimes, the fact that he was fortunate enough to spend each day by her side would hit him like a wall, forcing him to come to a stop and just... stare, in awe, that she was still here, before him. Like now.

"Lloyd...?" Colette whispered, blushing harder at the way he was staring at her - like she was the most precious treasure in the whole, wide world. That was always the way he had treated her, like she was worth every ounce of love he could spare and more. And even if she could never comprehend how she could possibly be that for him, the constant reminder that she was loved warmed her heart. She felt like she was always at home, for home was here, with Lloyd.

"Nothing," Lloyd whispered back, deft fingers plucking one of the irises growing on the shore and tucking it gently behind her right ear. The colour of the twilight sky, it complemented her periwinkle blue eyes perfectly. "I'm just glad you're here."

Colette closed her eyes, burying her face in his chest and letting Lloyd's warmth envelop her. Here, in this tiny pond tucked away from the world, there was just the two of them, swaying together in the water.

And that was enough, and it was perfect.

* * *

_Idiots._

Noishe slinked closer to Lloyd and Colette, enjoying each other's embrace under one of the trees. They had settled themselves there, having pulled themselves out of the pond after _ten whole minutes_ of slow swaying, which Noishe had watched, wondering if this was what passed as slow dancing.

Colette and Lloyd were now both peacefully slumbering, happy smiles on their faces. Colette's cheek was pillowed on Lloyd's chest, hair fanning across his red clothes. Lloyd's hand was still curled in the golden strands, which he had been gently stroking before falling asleep himself.

His plan to get them in the water had worked out, but...

Their clothes weren't even dry. They were going to catch a cold at this rate... It was the one thing he hadn't considered!

Noishe didn't want the pair he travelled with to get sick because of the little prank he'd played. So, with great care to ensure he didn't disrupt their sleep, he dragged his body over the two to act as a giant, fuzzy blanket. At least he'd managed to shake all the water out of his coat after he'd left the two in the pond and wouldn't be further contributing to the problem.

Keeping absolutely still, Noishe watched their chests rise and fall, letting out a little huff. The peace and quiet was perfect for planning even more schemes...

But it was nice to just... lie here and... relax...

A few moments later, the Protozan's loud snoring begun to echo through the clearing. A lone dragonfly, seeking a perch, landed on Noishe's head.

And there was serenity again.

* * *

"A - _achoo!"_

Lloyd hurriedly grabbed a bunch of tissues from the box on the nightstand next to his bed, loudly blowing his nose while cursing internally. Crushing the bunch of tissues into a ball, he threw them into the wastebasket in the corner of the room. His eyes and nose had been watering all day. Upon arriving back in Iselia, Dad had taken one look at him and confined him to bed rest, and the day had gone pretty terribly since. 

"Here!" A cup of steaming hot coffee was pushed in front of Lloyd, Colette's smiling face hovering above it like an angel from the heavens. "This should help you feel better!" 

_Mostly_ terrible. There were some high points.

Lloyd took the cup, grateful for the warmth that spread through his palms to the rest of his body. Leave it up to Colette to take the best care of him when he fell sick and make him feel better.

Taking a sip and letting the bitter taste slide down his throat, Lloyd looked down through the window at the hulking green and white mass staring back up at him. Noishe made some complicated head motions as if trying to beg for forgiveness, but Lloyd only narrowed his eyes, hoping to display the full extent of his displeasure. This was, after all, all Noishe's fault.

Noishe gave out a pitiful whine at the death glare currently being directed his way. The force of it reminded him of a certain someone, and it was enough to strike fear into anyone. Lowering his head and breaking eye contact, Noishe considered that maybe he hadn't planned his scheme out well enough...

**Author's Note:**

> Noishe is usually portrayed as being kinda dumb, so I thought it'd be real fun for him to just be scheming, but then turn out to be a big idiot anyway (but with good intentions). Also, Marsh calls this the Noishe fic haha.
> 
> The flowers are white lilies and blue irises, which do grow next to and on ponds.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
